Analysis of English Semantic Change

Abstract

Semantics changes with the times all the time. When a word loses its original meaning, and refers to other different things, this may lead to the semantic change. The factors, such as the change of people’s living environment, the revolutionary of society, the progress of technology may contribute to the semantic change. The semantic change has some forms, including the extension of meaning, restriction of meaning, the elevation of meaning, degradation of meaning and transference of meaning. In this paper, the types of semantic change will be illustrated at first. Then the reasons of semantic change will be discussed. At last, the conclusion can be drawn that understanding the types, reasons and history will help us to master more vocabulary, and improve our ability of using language.